


You'll Just Have to Wait

by xRinsexRepeatx



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Matchmaking, New Year's Eve, Post-Series, SGA Secret Santa Fic Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21922000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xRinsexRepeatx/pseuds/xRinsexRepeatx
Summary: Jeannie would have figured it out sooner, if it hadn't been for how meeting her brother always tended to come with massive disaster. As it was, she wasn't surprised when she heard that the proposal to Jennifer never happened. She wasn't surprised when, deep in an encrypted email about ZPMs, Mer snuck in an inquiry 'if Lt Colonel Sheppard could join for the winter visit'.Shewassurprised at this.Or, Jeannie tries her hands at some matchmaking.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 18
Kudos: 162
Collections: Stargate Atlantis Secret Santa 2019





	You'll Just Have to Wait

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NephilimEQ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NephilimEQ/gifts).



* * *

* * *

The first time since college that Jeannie met one of Mer's girlfriends, she was saying his sudden onset niceness was actually sudden onset brain parasite. She, Jennifer, had given Jeannie the recordings of his rapid deterioration into someone unrecognizable, and she was at least conscentious, because she hadn't removed the bit where this Mer who didn't even have half his mind left declared that he loved her. They hadn't been dating at the time, but at that point it was as inevitable as the falling apple hitting the ground.

The first time Jeannie met John, Mer flared up in territorial jealousy. The second time, the year after, John came to their rescue like a real live action hero. The third time was the first time she met Jennifer. In the recordings, Mer had said that he loved her, but he'd been screaming for John. And John was the one who hadn't given up, who had been there every step of the way, who had risked everything.

Jeannie would have figured it out sooner, if it hadn't been for how meeting her brother always tended to come with massive disaster. As it was, she wasn't surprised when she heard that the proposal to Jennifer never happened. She wasn't surprised when, deep in an encrypted email about ZPMs, Mer snuck in an inquiry 'if Lt Colonel Sheppard could join for the winter visit'.

She _was_ surprised at this.

John was on the couch with Kaleb's guitar, showing Madison how to strum out a simple chord before handing her the instrument, her small arm barely managing to reach over and around the body of it, the fingertips of her left hand turning red and white on the strings. The appeal of it for Madison was obviously John; the guitar had stood untouched next to the piano for years until her daughter caught John looking at it and demanded a demonstration.

Mer was sitting by the dinner table lost in his laptop, the aggressive smattering of keys suggesting that whoever he had on the other side was getting a throrough McKay lashing.

The scene was as perfectly idyllic as she could imagine for her brother, but. There hadn't been any overt displays of affection, and that she could have explained away. The thing was, Mer wasn't making any stuttering self-corrections, his eyes weren't darting around in flittering avoidance like when he was hiding something.

Madison kept strumming the guitar, a soft monotone.

It was absurd, but the only conclusion was that her brother really had no clue.

He had _no idea_ that he was in love with John Sheppard.

And here was the other part:

"Hey, how about an E minor? Drop everything but your index finger, and put your ring finger on the string under, nothing to it," John said, after Madison had played the same chord two dozen times, and gently guided her hand into a different position. Madison strummed out the new chord, only vagely dissonant.

"Are you my uncle?" Jeannie watched John freeze as Madison thought it over, then nodded decisively. "You're here with uncle Mer, so I'll call you uncle, too."

John smiled, and it was all very sweet, until he noticed Jeannie watching, and gave her the exact same look that Madison got when she caught her with one knee up on the kitchen counter, arm stretched so far the tips of her fingers would graze the knob of the cupboard that held all the snacks.

There was only one possible explanation for a reaction like that.

At least John seemed to be aware of how he felt. But the guilty look implied that he was just as oblivious as Rodney when it came to _his_ feelings.

She shouldn't intervene. But she could see the answer, how this simple system of adjacent bodies could be brought together to mutual orbit with just the slightest nudge. Who was she to deny them?

* * *

* * *

Jeannie set the first part of the plan into motion just as dinner wound down (the garlic potato gratin distracting enough to help spare her from soy sausage complaints). John was visibly fighting not to fidget at the table even though he'd had his last mouthful less than a minute ago, looking calm on the surface but obviously fearing an onslaught of small talk like an air raid.

"Oh, by the way," Jeannie started, trying to sound spontaneous, taking a sip of water. "I'd forgotten we left the cot at the Andersons' place last summer, so you'll have to share the big bed." She took another sip, raising her eyebrows at them both, keeping a straight face at the way John froze for an instant before forcibly composing himself, sneaking a glance at her ever oblivious brother.

" _Now_ you remember?" Her brother frowned, but there was no increase of tension across his shoulders. It was almost enough to make her doubt her conclusions.

Almost.

Jeannie stood up with her plate, avoiding meeting John's slightly too intent gaze as she shrugged.

"Completely slipped my mind," she said, polite smile in place. "Sorry."

* * *

* * *

The next morning, Jeannie slipped out the bedroom while Kaleb was still fast asleep. Thinking of how the early bird gets the gossip she headed into the kitchen, stuttering on her first step at what she found.

Mer was sitting at the kitchen table, a coffee pot next to him, left hand resting in the ear of a half full coffee mug, right hand flittering somewhat sleepily over his laptop. 

Hiding her surprise at him being awake, and _alone_ , Jeannie pulled at the lapels of her fleece robe and tightened the belt, then took a mug from the cupboard and sat down opposite him. She looked him over as she poured a cup. His receding hair was standing up in tufts, a thick blanket covering his shoulders and draping down, covering most of his t-shirt. He was a bit red, possibly from the slight chill in the air, or maybe the coffee, and he was reading something on his screen, his eyes flickering back and forth, looking vaguely annoyed and not at all like last night had been even the slightest bit revelatory.

"You're up early," she began, sipping her coffee.

"Hmm," he replied, not looking away from his screen. After a moment he brought his coffee to his mouth, tipping it further and further until it his eyes were forced to up to hers. He brought it back down, looking at it as if disappointed by its lack of contents, and reached for the coffee pot. "Apparently, it's mission critical to go running at six in the morning even when there aren't any missions for a fortnight."

"Did you sleep alright?"

His mouth turned crooked with displeasure, and he looked out the window.

"Until _six a.m._ , yes."

If it had been anyone else, she wouldn't have believed such a total absence of any self-awareness could be possible. Mer huffed, and turned back to his laptop. Completely unaffected.

She'd have to pull out all the stops.

* * *

* * *

John was something else. He had begun to circle her warily, keeping his back against the walls at her attempts; the mistletoe she hung in the wide living room doorway John had a habit of leaning against, the sudden darkout that had them all huddle for warmth in front of the fireplace, the rom-com movie nights where presence was required and she and Kaleb always left John and Mer the smaller couch with barely enough space for two. It was fascinating to watch, his acute awareness that she was up to something combined with his obvious uncertainty as to _why_. But more than intrigue her it made her sad, to see someone doubt that good things could happen to him to such an extent that he couldn't see them even when they filled up the room.

Jeannie wanted to give up all the circumlocution and just talk some sense into him, but she was pretty sure John suspected as much because they hadn't been alone in a room together for even a second for three whole days.

It was getting ridiculous.

* * *

* * *

Eureka moments aren't exclusive to physics. To use some old remaining plain paper tablecloth as setting for Madison's third birthday party so that the kids could draw all through waiting for the delivery to arrive after she burned the cake, for example, or the time she realized just why she always butted heads with her mother-in-law. Just like that, in the middle of watching Sweet Home Alabama, she knew exactly what to do about the lovestruck dunces one couch over.

She waited until later that night to ask Kaleb for the favor. It wasn't exactly a hardship for him to skip out on a formal event. It took her hours to fall asleep, high on thoughts of how the inertia of tradition and prejudice combined might be strong enough to finally shift her brother's trajectory, a system of equations that might just lead to the optimal solution of a happily ever after.

* * *

* * *

Mer took it well, considering. He took one look at the two rental tuxedos she pulled out of the garment bag and immediately leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and jutted his chin.

Five minutes later, he was grumbling his way up the stairs, tuxes slung over one arm.

John raised an eyebrow at her over the edge of the morning newspaper. She smiled, said it was time to start dinner, and headed to the kitchen.

Tomorrow was New Year's Eve.

* * *

* * *

Jeannie looked herself in the mirror. The dark blue, subtly sparkling dress hugged her curves, her hair curled softly over her bare shoulders, and she was wearing the kind of heavy makeup she usually reserved for late nights out.

She went down the stairs, and the moment she came into view from the living room, the look on Mer's face confirmed she's picked the perfect look.

" _Jesus!_ Are you a guest or the entertainment?!"

John tried to turn his snort into a cough, making a perfunctory attempt to hide his amusement with a hand to cover his mouth.

Jeannie put on an amicable smile, eyes slipping unbothered past her brother's and staying on John's. "Everyone ready to head out?"

Mer frowned, but it was John who asked. "What about Kaleb?"

She held her balance against the wall as she slipped on her heels. It was the tall black ones she never wore, that made her feet ache within an hour but also made her legs tall and taut. "He's staying home with Madison," she stated, as if Mer should know better than to even have to ask.

"Oh for--" he started, and she opened the door and stepped outside, waving at the waiting taxi.

* * *

* * *

The place was better than she'd expected, and _much_ better than her brother had, from the way his steps slowed slightly the first few paces through the door.

The usually cluttered mismatched desks of the volunteer attorney's office were pushed aside and filled instead with hors d’oeuvres, leaving the many sequin-covered dresses in the crowd to gleam and glitter in the city lights shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows, like cresting waves in a sea of formal black. The room was filled with the loud murmur of good conversation, an overlay of music inviting the handful of pairs dancing on the far side of the room. Jeannie had only been here once before, when picking Charlotte up for their first and last attempt at a lunch hour spin class, and the only recognizable thing about the space was the skyline outside.

Mer, predictable as always, made a beeline for the tables, John casting a quick glance at Jeannie before sauntering behind. She can't see Charlotte anywhere, unsurprisingly, and follows them.

"What even _are_ these?" Mer picked up a small paper cup, squinting at the contents. "Oh, this is definitely nuts, if they haven't even labeled nuts, what's the chances for citrus? Do they _want_ medical emergencies?"

"We'll just run the off-world procedure, okay? Lighten up, McKay," John drawled, picking up another of the alleged nut-containing sweets, popping the entire thing in his mouth and chewing with exaggerated care. "S'clear," he said after a moment, voice muddled from the food still in his mouth. Mer rolled his eyes, but Jeannie noted he put his sweet down among the other things he'd deemed safe on his paper tray.

The music changed into a golden oldie, and Jeannie made her move. She put down her tray on the table and gasped theatrically.

"Oh, I love this song! John?" She held out a hand to him, and he only paused for a second before giving her the standard charmer smile.

"Lead the way," he said, and followed her without taking her hand. A few moments of navigating through the conversing crowd and they found an open bit of floor. She put a hand on the outside of his shoulder, and he rested his hand lightly on her waist before they clasped their other hands together. The song was neither fast nor slow, and they moved in a casual sway.

The second chorus came and went before either of them spoke.

"Listen, Jeannie..." John's hand around hers tightened almost imperceptibly. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, here, but." He tried to smile, but it came out a wince. "I really think it would be best if you just let it be."

Her heart hurt for him, and she squeezed his shoulder. "My brother has never been any good at figuring out the simple things."

"He's not--"

"Hey. He _is_." The song petered out, and a slower tune began. Their swaying slowed. "I'd tell you that I'll stop after tonight, but I don't think I have to."

She couldn't help smiling at him. John frowned and opened his mouth as if maybe about to say something, but before he could she moved in closer and leaned her head against his shoulder. To his credit, John allowed it, and they moved together in mellow circles as Jeannie counted the seconds.

" _Excuse_ me?"

Jackpot.

She moved away from John and looked at Mer. He was holding a hand out impatiently towards her, the outraged, jealous anger belied by the color in his face. She moved her hand towards his, without letting go of John's, and put his hand in her brother's.

"I'll be over there," she said, nodding towards the tables. The two of them were still frozen in place, Mer looking at his hand as if it's broken some fundamental law of the universe.

She left them to it.

Jeannie found herself a glass of champagne, and sipped it, leaning against a wall. Midnight was still a couple hours off. John and Mer had broken out of their stupor and were moving to the music, space left between them like a couple of kids at the first dance at prom, their rhythm slightly awkward but in tune with each other, a pair of off-beats synchronizing against the odds.

* * *

* * *

She's laughing with Charlotte as the clock strikes twelve. There was cheering, toasts and the sound of fireworks in the distance as couples kissed all around her, and her smile grew just a little bit wider as she realized John and her brother were nowhere to be found.

* * *

* * *


End file.
